I was going through the pen box and saw a few pens that I had picked up from many Mumbai stationery shops. These were from the mid-1990s to early 2000s when I had a field job and had to traverse through all parts of Mumbai. I popped into every pen shop as a habit and picked up whatever I liked.

While there are many pens, I want to start with these three which were clearly inspired by the Aurora 88 contemporary pen. I have a couple of Senator pens and another Flair pen that were inspired by the Pelikan M200 and M400. I will post those pictures too.

I got these in local stationary shops in Mumbai for prices in the $8 to $12 range in local currency. I have tried very hard, but have not been able to get any more of these - even at the same shops. Most shops these days carry chinese pens like Baoer and Jinhao.

All of these are piston-fillers with nib & feed units that screw out. All of these have steel nibs that are uncalibrated, but write a Fine to Medium-Fine line. The age clearly shows on these pens as for a long time, these pens were ignored and kept in "less than perfect" conditions.

From Left to Right: Orchid Black with Gold accents, Orchid Blue with Steel Cap and Gold accents, Flair President Black with Gold Accents.

I have another Flair President, but the nib-feed section is broken as is the piston.

Beautiful pens - it's a design the basics of which I like - and especially, very nice photographs.

Have you cleaned them up, inked them, used them? I'm curious.

I have some pens that also had a similar fate; bought and used a long time ago, then languished in a drawer as some problem developed. When I joined FPN I learned a ton of things to try with those pens, to bring them back into active service, and with most of them, the results were amazing.

Beautiful pens - it's a design the basics of which I like - and especially, very nice photographs.

Have you cleaned them up, inked them, used them? I'm curious.

I have some pens that also had a similar fate; bought and used a long time ago, then languished in a drawer as some problem developed. When I joined FPN I learned a ton of things to try with those pens, to bring them back into active service, and with most of them, the results were amazing.

Keep up the good work. I hope you post more...

Thanks for your comments and encouragement. I do plan to post more about my pens and pictures.

Yes, I have cleaned, used and re-cleaned these as well as all my other pens. These are not the smoothest nibs, so their use is not regular.

For a long time, I would just ink up pens with black ink, use them and ignore them. I did not get to spend any kind of quality time on my hobby due to work and other commitments. It is just in the past few months that I learned how to clean the different types of pens, dismantle the nib+feed and piston assemblies, and other stuff. I did break a couple of feeds and pistons on the way, but no sweat.

Thanks to FPN and some other resources, I take much better care of my pens now and have also moved on from black ink to many other colors.

If a nib is not smooth, there is a thread - well, several, but this one will get you started - that tells a number of things you can do to improve their performance. I have used the tips and tricks in there, and developed an approach of my own, with pleasant results. Good luck, and, belatedly,

If a nib is not smooth, there is a thread - well, several, but this one will get you started - that tells a number of things you can do to improve their performance. I have used the tips and tricks in there, and developed an approach of my own, with pleasant results. Good luck, and, belatedly,

Thank you. That is very useful. Right now, I am looking to get a couple of pens repaired. Maybe my next adventure can be in nib smoothing. Cheers!

Are these current production pens?
Nice pictures and a keen sense of observation !

No, I don't think these pens are still in production. I have visited the same shops I purchased these from and they do not have them. If at all available, the fountain pens in these shops are mainly Jinhao, Baoer and the like.

For a long time, I did not know these were Aurora 88 clones myself. It is only recently that I realized the resemblance. Unfortunately, I do not have an Aurora 88 for comparing side-by-side.

Yes. Flair seems to have a "flair" for making inspired clones. I am going to post this separately, but here are some sneak pics of another Flair pen inspired by the Pelikan Souveran - possibly M200/205 going by the size.